Title: The Haunting of Hill House

Author: Shirley Jackson (White woman)

Genre: Fiction

Book published: 1959 and Read: Early Spring 2026

Reason for reading: My roommate got it from the library and I thought it looked interesting

So, after I finished reading this book I didn't like it. This is largely due to the fact that the novel, to me, seemed sort of like a mystery- or, at the very least- it set up questions, and I was expecting it to answer those questions at the end of the book. As you can probably guess by this point in the review, those questions were not in fact answered, which left me very frustrated. Not only that, but I didn't understand the iconic opening line whatsoever- woe was me! Anyways, then I like- thought about the book. And thought about the book. And thought about the book even more. (To the point where I checked out a separate book from my college's library, () , that explained what the heck was going on). And after all this reflecting, I have this to say: I have never related to a protagonist more in my life, and it scares me, and I think that is insanely impressive on Jackson's part.

Like me, Eleanor is lonely, doesn't like herself all that much, and it causes her to become a not-so-great person. She hates other people because she thinks they hate her, and her suffering is- at least in part- self fulfilling. I've seen people on Tumb share their opinions, and I agree with the sentiment that this is not a tale about a ghost haunting a house, it's the tale of a very lonely woman who haunts herself, and slowly becomes a ghost. In the end, I don't really think this book needed to answer the questions it sorta set up, because it's also interesting to be left wondering; There's so many layers in the 'onion of symbolism' and so much to think about past the surface level of this novel.

I've typed it before and I'll type it again, everyone who hates themselves should read this book.